Your Career and You: "PR 'Foreign Policy'"

I had a cup of coffee with a new friend the other day who wanted to try out some ideas on how, after completing her Master’s degree, she might further that education with “real-life” experience in the U.S. before returning to her home and family in Beijing.

We spent about an hour…first “session,” more to come…discussing her practical experience in China, which aspects of that experience she really enjoyed, and how she could build on the knowledge she has gained both from her previous worklife and from her graduate studies.

As might be expected, I was firing off ideas right and left, and she was taking everything in and processing it in terms of her own goals and objectives.

We parted with the agreement that I would introduce her to colleagues at upcoming PRSA Boston, Publicity Club of New England, Social Media Club of Boston and other events.

You’re probably sitting there thinking to yourself, “Okay, Kirk. This is ‘interesting’ but what’s the point?”

Good question. And one that we all, as professionals or soon-to-be professionals, should be prepared to ask and answer.

What’s the point?

Our world is shrinking at warp speed. At the recent Public Relations Society of America International Conference, I met and spoke with dozens of PR professionals from across the globe. They represented a host of practice areas as well as the gamut of public relations experience levels.

The one unifying theme in all the conversations was a desire on the part of each to practice public relations in a way that would make them…and their respective employers…proud…that would represent the public relations profession for what it is…an honorable, ethical field of endeavor.

No surprise here, but 21st century public relations has become a global concept.

What is tweeted in Boise is retweeted from Beijing to Bangladesh.

“Casual” statements in a CEO’s blog in Memphis are seen and responded to by readers in Moscow and Mozambique.

The challenge for us as professional communicators, then, becomes one of thinking “outside the box,” or, better yet, “outside the borders.”

I had a great chat with our Academic Dean at Curry College a few days ago during which he asked me a series of questions about my definition of the ideal learning environment for today’s (and tomorrow’s) students.

My response, in a nutshell, was that I wanted/expected students to be well-grounded in the liberal arts…to be familiar with history, literature, the sciences…and to be aware of events in the greater community outside their campus.

I always try to be crystal clear that the students I’m talking about are my Public Relations Concentration troops. Ideally this would encompass other disciplines as well, but I’m being the conservative here and am sticking with what I can (sort of) control.

Happily, the Dean shares my vision, so I see, as Rick said to Louis in “Casablanca,” the “beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

But that’s the reality, again. Our “world” no longer consists of friends and neighbors within driving distance of our hometown. And the impacts of our actions no longer affect merely those who are the immediate recipients of our message.

Ours is a world without borders which means that we must be aware of cultural and other differences and be prepared to communicate successfully with our various audiences.

It’s not a “new” world that we live and work in, but it is a different and rapidly-evolving world.

It’s a world in which, as communicators, our “foreign policy” will prepare us for events and opportunities that impact us and our clients.

Your Career and You: "Optimism Rocks!"

We had our 2012 Commencement Ceremony at Curry College this past weekend, and, as usual, I came away exhausted but filled with optimism.

What a day!

Some statistics:

Ø  850 undergraduate and graduate degrees conferred

Ø  International representation: seven countries

Ø  U.S.: 19 states plus Puerto Rico

Not bad for a small private college parked in Milton, Mass., cozily on the southern tip of one of the coolest cities in the U.S…Boston.

Given the number of graduates…plus the student speakers…plus the Commencement speaker…and all the other stuff that goes into a college graduation…the three-hour ceremony wasn’t bad.

Things went relatively smoothly, and our president, Kenneth K. Quigley, Jr. (for whom, by the way, I would cheerfully dogpaddle through molten lava and broken glass on a mission), was awesome.

Ken believes in Curry College, and I honestly believe that his commitment to our college and his optimism is felt by each and every student who passes through our halls.

He has been with us (way before my time) through the good years as well as the not-so-good. And he has remained steadfastly committed to seeing us maintain our status as a first-class liberal arts institution.

Back to the day.

Immediately following the conferring of degrees, we faculty members lined up outside the tent to applaud the new graduates as they proceeded out to join their friends and family members.

And this is where the fun really began. I must have personally spoken to/ shaken hands with/hugged more than 50 former students from one or more of my public relations classes as they filed past…each of them with a gleam of pride in their eyes and a freshly-conferred diploma in their hands.

Then, once everyone was out, the real mingling began…students with their parents/spouses/friends excitedly reliving the morning and seeking out former professors to introduce and get photos taken.

As I’ve commented numerous times in past, I love seeing the look of pride in the eyes of parents/spouses/friends as the impact of the morning sinks in.

And I love, when one of them thanks me for what I’ve done over the past four years for his or her son or daughter, to respond…from the heart… “Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to meet and to study and learn with your [son/daughter]!”

It’s nice to know that my efforts are appreciated. But it’s even nicer to believe, as I do, in the ability of that son or daughter to succeed.

It’s a win-win-win...

Ø The son or daughter believes that there is a fresh new world ahead.

Ø The parent/spouse/friend believes that great things lie ahead and the “bumps” that have occurred over the past four years were worth it.

Ø I believe in the inherent ability of anyone who wishes to do so to succeed.

No matter whose perspective you represent…optimism rocks!!

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible world; and the pessimist fears this is true.” – James Branch Cabell, “The Silver Stallion” [1926], ch. 26

Your Career and You: "Learning to Learn"

I never fail to be amazed at the varying levels of interest some of my students show when it comes to actually learning what they’re studying.

The two concepts shouldn’t be mutually exclusive…but they sometimes, to me at least, from my perspective, sure seem to be.

As many of you know, I’m a full-time faculty member at Curry College in the Communication Department, riding herd over the Public Relations Concentration and teaching most of the undergrad PR courses.

I also teach part-time at Regis College in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, but that tends to be a different set of dynamics…with its own set of challenges and opportunities.

Back to the “learning” and “studying.”

It has been a bazillion years since I was fresh out of high school and wending my hesitant way through undergraduate studies at, first, Auburn University (thought I wanted to be an engineering major…HAH!), then Middle Georgia College (had to do some damage repair after a disastrous first year at Auburn!), and…finally...University of Georgia (“Go Dawgs!").

I remember, though, morphing from the studying student to the learning student.

What happened?

Simple...sort of. I finally figured out what I really was interested in…accepted that there were going to be some courses that I initially would have zero interest in…and moved onward.

The courses that I was interested in were a slam-dunk. I knew how they fit into my life plan, and I actually looked forward to diving headlong into the books to read and remember/learn.

The other courses required some analysis and planning. “How might they fit into my world?”

One fortuitous happenstance was that my roommate for my junior and senior years was an 18th-century British history major while I was an 18th-century British literature major.

We played off each other’s interests with lively discussions that wrapped both areas together. We also had a group of friends (finance, biology…) who joined us and filled in the voids in both our spheres of study.

The result was that, even for those courses whose appeal ranked right up there with root canals and appendectomies, we learned a ton and could regurgitate that learning in the classroom on exams, in papers, and in class discussion.

“Studying” is…no argument here…incredibly important. Looking at the materials…exposing yourself to the information contained…must occur.

In public relations, this is known as “awareness,” and it is the first…and easiest...of public relations objectives to accomplish.

But that’s just the first step in the process. As I often say in my classes when discussing problems and opportunities in PR…“now that I’ve caught the snake, what do I do with him?”

To continue the PR analogy, this is where we “separate the men from the boys (or the women from the girls)” with tangible results.

What does this mean for you?

This is truly where the “learning” aspect comes into play. Once you have wrapped your head around the subject matter, you should be able to “connect the dots.”

Then, and only then…have you learned. The material starts making sense (well, maybe not calculus, but you know what I mean!), and you’re able to apply information gleaned from one course to others, and vice versa.

A liberal arts education is about learning something about the arts…the sciences…history…mathematics…the whole shebang.

Armed with that knowledge, you are able to start making sense of the greater “world” and the many influences that you will encounter in your own growth as an individual.

So take your “studying” to a different level…start looking at how the various subjects relate to or impact the others.

Simple starter question: “How many lines in a sonnet?”

Answer: 14.

See? You just called on mathematics to answer a question about poetry!

Cool, no?!?

“All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.” – Plotinus, “Enneads,” bk. II, treatise iii, sec. 7

Your Career and You: "Speak Your Thoughts... Others Will Hear You"

Today has been one of those really cool days when I've come to realize that the things that I've been writing about in this blog are valid and meaningful.

First, the Boston Globe had an article in the "Money and Careers" section entitled "For the ambitious, entry-level jobs are far from a dead end." The advice, as provided by Globe staffer Katie Johnston Chase, was dead-center what I wrote about back in June.

Then, I received a tweet from Valerie Simon at BurrellesLuce about a blog ("Culpwrit") written by Ron Culp, a Ketchum PR exec who has some very keen insights into the quagmire known as "careers and job searching." Ron has provided some great observations on the importance of "passion," a topic I examined in August.

I can hear you asking: "So what? What does this have to do with my situation?"

Well, for one thing, it should reassure you that you're not in this all by yourself. If people are offering advice in national publications and on global social media platforms, there's a reason...and that reason is that others, just like you, are asking for advice and guidance.

Another more to-the-point reason is that Ron and I, and countless others, are writing blogs, articles, memos...you name it...putting in words our experiences and our opinions in the hope that we will offer some tidbit of advice that will help you.

I can't tell you how many times one of my students at Curry College or at Regis College has come to me asking for advice on how to better position him- or herself to stand out among the hordes of similar job seekers trying to get a toe in the door of a PR firm or in the PR department of a company or nonprofit organization.

Guess what? You've all taken the same courses....often studying the same texts! You've all done two or three (or more) internships. You've all excelled in your studies. And you've all been involved in a gazillion on- and off-campus activities to help flesh out your knowledge and experience.

So what's left? Well, here's a suggestion. Put your thoughts...your experiences...your observations...down in written form.

Blogging is one obvious way. Writing for your college newspaper or some other publication is another. Even updates on Facebook or Twitter...something besides the fact that you partied way too well last night and are paying the price today...can be valid. If you read (you do read, don't you?!?) something that catches your attention, post a link and a comment on Facebook. Or fire off a Tweet.

Why? Because professionals like Ron, Valerie, me and countless hundreds of others pay attention. You apply for a job; I'm going to pop your name into Google to see what bubbles up.

What would you rather have me see? Your most recent blog about your very cool trip, describing the scenery, the ambience, the excitement of visiting and learning about a new location/culture? Or a photo on Facebook of you getting up-close-and-personal with a trashcan after a party???

Read other people's blogs, and get a sense of how they're expressing themselves. Then think about it and decide what topic you might like to write about. Sports? Cooking? Travel? Art? It doesn't matter. Just put your thoughts down...demonstrate interest.

Set yourself a schedule. I do this blog weekly simply because I seem to encounter enough people and situations to always have at least one topic to sound off on weekly. Just try to be regular about it... demonstrate consistency.

And, finally, keep at it. Don't do one or two and stop, telling yourself, "Ok, I did what Kirk told me to do." Demonstrate dependability.

See what you've accomplished? In addition to having now established a written "picture" of you, the individual, you now have answered three of my top questions as a hiring manager!

So now you're a couple of notches up on the job search chain. Your resume looks good because of all the cool things you've accomplished. And now you and I have had a virtual mini-interview thanks to your having written your blog or whatever published form you choose. I've "heard" you!!

"'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.' So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there."
Ernest Hemingway, "A Moveable Feast" [1964]

Getting the Most from Your Public Relations Education

I spent most of yesterday in a Faculty Retreat planning not for the upcoming semester but for how Curry College's Communication Department would look in two-to-three years and beyond.

While some of the conversation was about "rubrics" and other academic-sounding things, we devoted a significant amount of time to end results of our education efforts...what do we want our students to come away with at the end of their four years of study?

This led me to thinking about what I want my public relations students to learn while they're with us. And it all led back to the age-old "get a solid liberal arts education."

While the future value of mathematics, fine arts, philosophy, and all the other wondrous courses available for study may not be readily apparent, think about it like this. Public relations is about understanding human behavior, about being able to analyze a situation and offer viable recommendations...about actually seeing both the individual trees and  the forest while you're in the midst of all of it.

Take fine arts, for example. My wife is an accomplished amateur painter. We once went to a Monet exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. While all the rest of us were standing back at a "dignified" distance "admiring" the overall beauty of a particular painting, Margaret practically had her nose in the painting, closely examining and appreciating how each individual brushstroke contributed to the finished work.

Liberal arts courses teach you to examine the individual brushstrokes that comprise effective communication. From mathematics and critical thinking ("How do I derive that sum?") to fine arts and appreciation of how a combination of efforts led to a pleasing end product ("How did the artist achieve that realistic depiction?") to philosophy, history, and the many other courses, each adds an extra level of understanding.

Which leads me back to my original thought...what will the Communication Department look like? I believe the content will continue to evolve to meet current communication capabilities and demands. But I don't think the context will change significantly; communication majors will still have to be able to communicate effectively.

A solid understanding of all that goes into that communication...the history, the psychology, the mathematics, the art...will remain a constant. And I will continue to expect my public relations students to gain that understanding.